xsight launches BirdWize

xsight (the company behind FODetect) has just introduced an enhancement to RunWize, called BirdWize.

I have to be honest here, it’s not entirely clear to me if RunWize is the same thing as FODetect, or if FODetect is the name of the hardware, and RunWize is the name of the system, and BirdWize is an addon to the system! If anyone can clarify I’d really appreciate it. Anyway….on with the news.

According to the website, RunWize (or FODetect, or maybe FODSpot) can now also detect birds. It’s not entirely clear from the product description what the technical change is, I can only assume that the detection algorithms have been updated to better detect moving objects e.g birds.

From the product page:

BirdWize uses advanced image processing and computer vision algorithms to detect birds on the runway without any manual intervention. The algorithms also provide indication regarding the bird’s estimated dimensions.

This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 13th, 2013 at 7:16 pm and is filed under FODetect.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “xsight launches BirdWize”

Before discussing the solution/product names, let me explain some more about BirdWize™.

Until the launch of Xsight’s BirdWize™, all FOD Detection Systems detected birds that landed on the runway as FOD. In many cases, a bird is a large object that suddenly appears on the runway. It can certainly be considered a foreign object. However, due to the transient and biological nature of birds, the industry and most specifically the airports handle birds differently than FOD. In many cases birds are under the responsibility of a different unit i.e. Wildlife Control Unit.

Now Xsight’s technology, with the BirdWize™ new capability, knows to automatically distinguish between birds and all other FOD. This capability is highly important to airports and the airport users. According to the FAA and USDA studies, in the civil market, 40% of the bird strikes happen at the surface height (i.e. the runway). It opens a variety of advanced procedures that I’ll not discuss here for obvious reasons.

BirdWize™ is a software package that can be installed alongside FODetect, utilizing the same hardware and infrastructure. Its not just a feature (as you said) which adds to FODetect® the ability to detect moving objects (which incidentally might be plastic bags, paper objects, vegetation and other types of transient FOD). It uses advanced image processing and object recognition techniques to automatically distinguish between birds and other objects and provide wildlife management both real-time and offline statistics about the existence, locations and numbers of birds on the runway.

Back to the names. RunWize™ is the name of Xsight’s Runway Management Solutions which is a suite of integrated technologies and products. RunWize™ provides an airport a set of automation and management tools for safer and more efficient runways. Fodetect® and BirdWize™ are different parts of the RunWize™ solutions and integrate with each other. FODetect® supports airport operators manage FOD, while BirdWize™ supports airport wildlife management manage bird hazards.

RunWize™ consists of additional technologies and be sure to hear more about them soon.

That does clear things up, thank you. Your website does not make the relationship between the various products/features very clear (I couldn’t find any mention of RunWize other than the fact that BirdWise had been added to it)

I did assume from the product page that the addition was the fact that the system could now distinguish birds from other FOD, and therefore deal with them differently, but it wasn’t entirely clear.

Thanks again for the clarification, I’m sure people will find it helpful.